Wellstar is offering a new, FDA-approved imaging technology that detects the extent of prostate cancer earlier and with greater accuracy than current imaging methods.
This diagnostic agent called PYLARIFY (piflufolastat F 18) is given to patients as an injection. Once it is in the body, it binds to PSMA, or Prostate-Specific Membrane Antigens. Prostate cancer cells usually have a higher level of PSMA.
While standard scans have limited sensitivity for prostate cancer, this advanced imaging using PYLARIFY and PET scans is much more capable of identifying prostate cancer, giving physicians a clearer image of prostate cancer lesions and allowing them to determine if the cancer is limited to the prostate or if it has spread to other parts of the body.
“It allows us to make sure we’re not missing any sites of cancer that aren’t picked up with old-school imaging,†said Wellstar Urologist Dr. Justin Watson. “If there is an area of cancer outside what we’d typically treat and we pick it up with this imaging, we can make sure we address that area, too.â€
Providers can then move forward with the best course of action, tailor treatment to each patient’s individual needs, and collaborate with the patient to improve outcomes.
Wellstar Radiation Oncologist Dr. Justin Hart and Dr. Watson compared the new imaging technology to upgrading a 20 inch tube-style TV from 1981 to a 60 inch LCD flat-screen TV today.
“This is several leaps forward in our ability to see prostate cancer on a scan in high resolution,†Dr. Watson said. “In the older scans, things are difficult to see and sometimes not even perceptible, and with the new scans, they light right up and we know much better what we’re dealing with.â€
This PSMA imaging is currently available at Wellstar Kennestone Hospital, with plans to expand to other locations.
